A 24-year-old man has been hailed as a hero for chasing a person suspected of launching a knife rampage in Annecy, which left six individuals injured together with 4 toddlers.
Two younger kids are nonetheless in intensive care following Thursday’s knife assault in southeast France, when screams rippled by means of a playground within the small Alpine city in the course of the brutal assault.
A 31-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker was detained on suspicion of finishing up the assault, French media and CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Thursday. The suspect is being held in custody at a police station in Annecy, in accordance with BFMTV.
The backpacker who tried to cease the knife assault has been dubbed the “backpack hero” domestically. He recognized himself solely as Henri to French media.
“I attempted to behave as each Frenchman ought to act. Or how each Frenchmen would act,” the younger man advised BFMTV on Friday, including that he “didn’t even suppose.”
“It was simply inconceivable to depart defenseless individuals to be attacked like that by somebody who appeared to me successfully to be a maniac,” he mentioned.
Movies filmed by bystanders present Henri confronting the perpetrator and swinging his bag to combat him off.
“Our eyes met and I might really feel that this was a man who was not in a proper state, that one thing evil was in him,” Henri added.
Members of the general public on Friday wrote messages and laid floral tributes on the scene of the incident, Reuters reported. Passersby had been seen wiping away tears as bouquets of flowers and balloons had been strewn throughout the playground.
French authorities spokesperson Olivier Veran mentioned on the radio station France Information that two of the kids injured within the assault are in a “vitally pressing” state, after surgical intervention. The wounded had been handled in hospitals in Geneva and Grenoble, in accordance with Annecy mayor François Astorg.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his spouse Brigitte arrived in Annecy on Friday to fulfill victims, their households and those that intervened within the assault, Veran mentioned.
The Elysée Palace launched a press release saying Macron and his spouse would even be assembly the individuals who helped and supported the victims and their family members within the aftermath of the incident.
Macron met and thanked Henri on Friday alongside different first support responders, in accordance with AFP and different French media.
Henri was strolling in the direction of the motorway to hitchhike to the Hautecombe Abbey when he got here throughout the horrific scene.
Henri is on a nine-month journey throughout the nation to go to essentially the most lovely cathedrals of France, he advised BFMTV.
This text was initially revealed by cnn.com. Learn the unique article right here.
Comments are closed.